Macandales celebrated its 40th year in business on Saturday from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. in Port Hardy.
The celebration included a barbecue lunch fundraiser that was run by the dry grad committee.
Macandales Owner Dale Dorward moved to the North Island when he was 14 years old. Originally from the Courtenay area, his family put down their roots in Port McNeill. In 1978, Dorward decided to open a tool rental business with his father. They called it Macandales.
“We started out in Port McNeill and then we moved after two or three years to Port Hardy and ran two branches,” Dorward stated in a previous interview with the North Island Gazette.
Dorward consolidated the two stores into one in the early 1980s, and the business has remained in Port Hardy ever since.
Originally just a tool rental business, Macandales now specializes in the sale and service of logging, marine, home and garden, and off-road recreation equipment and supplies. They are authorized sales and service centre for Stihl, Husqvarna, Honda, Yamaha Marine, Oregon power and BE Pressure Washer products, and also have rental equipment ranging from construction equipment to home renovation tools to lawn and garden care machines.
“Most of our product is geared towards commercial, industrial type stuff,” said Dorward. “It’s for working trades people, the commercial side of business like fish farms, the logging industry, the fishing industry. That’s the kind of stuff we focus our energy on, because that’s the stuff that’s going on continuously up here. These people are the backbone around here.”
– Gazette staff
